Google Fiber set to bring in a faster tomorrow !

Google Fiber is Google’s fiber-to-the-premises(FTTP) service in the United States. Providing the fastest broadband internet google and television to a small and slowly increasing number of locations. It is a project to build an experimental high speed broadband internet infrastructure using fiber-optic communication. It provides the fastest internet speeds of up to 100 times faster than the current broadband connections throughout the US.
This high speed internet service was first announced in 2010 and Google announced the google fiber location on March 30, 2011 that the sister cities of Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri would be the first Google Fiber location. Over 1,100 communities nationwide had applied to be the first recipient of the fastest internet connection service; after which it was rolled out to Kansas City, Missouri, with plans for expansion to several other Kansas City area suburbs, as well as Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah.

Kansas City was chosen for mainly two reasons:

• The speed with which the cities responded to the applications for selection.
• Moreover the city had a disused network of water mains, owned by the city, which allowed fiber cables to be distributed throughout the network of pipes causing minimal disruption during the installation process.

Google Fiber speed of internet connection has been so successful in Kansas City; google fiber Austin, Texas; and Provo, Utah that Google is now working with nine metropolitan areas in the U.S. to expand its ultra-high speed Internet network. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) plans to update where Google Fiber will go next, which could be as many as 34 U.S. cities.

Technology

Fiber is a very future-friendly technology. While technologies like cable modems are stretching the limits of what can be done with existing copper wire infrastructure, Google fiber speed is still the fastest internet connection even in its most common current form. In the future when bandwidth demands inevitably surpass what we can even contemplate now, the Google fiber cable being laid right now will be able to scale up with only modest hardware upgrades like fiber modems. That’s something that no existing copper technology can promise. Cable modems like those being sold by Comcast and Time Warner Cable are the closest in terms of pure speed, but they still fall far short on both speed and the ability to provide what’s known as symmetric service, i.e., the ability to send data (upload) just as fast as they can download.

Technical specifications

According to the FCC’s Sixth Broadband Deployment Report, the benchmark for broadband speeds is 4 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. But Google Fiber is built to provide the fastest Internet connection speed of one gigabit per second (1,000 Mbit/s) for both download as well as upload which is roughly about 100 times faster access than what most Americans have. This service is capable of downloading a full movie in less than two minutes. In order to utilize gigabit speeds, the devices would require support for Gigabit Ethernet and category 5 or greater cabling, or a 802.11ac compatible WiFi router and wireless adapter.

Services and plans offered

Google Fiber offers three pricing plans:

1. A free broadband internet option, which provides a 5 Mbps internet access
2. A 1 Gbit/s internet option for a Google Fiber price of $70 a month
3. And an option including television service i.e. 1 Gbps internet access and HD television service for a google fiber price of $120 a month

The internet google service includes one terabyte of Google Drive service; the television service includes a HDTV and internet bundle with a 2 terabytes of DVR storage in addition to the Google Drive. The DVR can record up to eight live television shows simultaneously. In addition, television service will also stream live program content on iPad and Android tablet computers. Nexus 7 tablet no longer offered to new subscribers.

Though the 5 Mbps internet access is free, the Google Fiber cost for users is only a onetime $300 construction fee which is also payable at an installment of $25 a month for 1 year. Only the free 5 Mbps standard connection will require this Google Fiber construction fee. The 1 Gbps service and television service have the construction fee waived. The free service will continue for at least the next 7 years according to Google, while schools will get free 1 Gbps connectivity.

Distribution

In order to avoid underground cabling complexity for the last mile, Google Fiber relies on aggregators dubbed Google Fiber Huts. From these Google Fiber Huts, the fiber cables travel along utility poles into neighbourhoods and homes, and stop at a Fiber Jack (an Optical Network Terminal or ONT) in each home. Before installing a Google Fiber internet network, Google must consider google fiber locations and geographical features like hills and flood zones. Cities must also provide Google with a checklist of items that will help them prepare for Google Fiber speed, such as maps of water, gas and electricity lines. There is a limited window of time to sign up. This is done in order to deliver Google Fiber internet speed as quickly as possible. Google focuses on one neighbourhood at a time, doing an all-out installation blitz if the fibrehood meets its signup goal.

A next step for Google Fiber and small business

A super-fast Google Internet connection can indeed have a big impact on unlocking new possibilities for small businesses. From the start, small business owners have wanted Google high speed internet to help them move faster, work better together, reach new parts of the world without boarding a plane, and save time for the important things like growing their business. Hence another step is being taken to speed up the Internet for small businesses; Google is kicking off an Early Access Program for Google high speed internet for Small Business in selected areas of central Kansas City. Businesses in Kansas City have already started bidding farewell to slow speeds and have accepted the new tools and technologies of high speed Google internet whole heartedly in order to grow.

Pros and Cons of Google Fiber

There are two faces to a coin and Google Fiber despite the Google high speed internet and all its features and characteristics; it does have a few cons along with the pros.

PROS

1. ISP’s will be forced to react: Internet Service Providers will be forced to offer faster speeds for cheaper, which is good news for consumers. Thus cable companies will have to switch things up or fall behind. Comcast which is the leading ISP in the U.S offers downloads of up to 50 Mbps for $100 dollars a month, with no television service included.2. No bandwidth cap: Comcast doesn’t count streaming from its own streaming video service against caps. But Google internet doesn’t have any caps at all and even includes Netflix in its service when it could have given preferential treatment to its own YouTube and Fiber TV products. This is huge, especially for people who live in places where cable hasn’t yet arrived (still true in many rural areas) and can only get high speed Internet access through a cellular carrier. In such cases, most of these folks can forget about streaming anything, unless the exorbitant cost of blasting through data caps doesn’t bother them.3. Google Fiber has no caps whatsoever: There is ample amount of storage since the DVR box that comes with Google Fiber TV, it lets users record up to eight shows at one time. Its 2TB hard drive also means you can store as much as 500 hours of HD video. Users who opt for the internet speed only package get 1 TB cloud storage. This means a user’s every digital asset can be accessible from any Internet-connected device or computer whenever he or she needs it.

CONS

1. TV service lacks big name channels: A lot of people can probably live without some of the channels not currently included in Google Fiber TV, such as Disney, AMC, TBS, TNT, and HBO; but the exclusion of ESPN will definitely not go down well with the sports enthusiasts. Also it seems Time Warner’s channel is too rich for Google’s taste. The good news is Google appears to be negotiating with some networks so as to get a more complete offering. By the time Google Fiber goes live, maybe some of these big guns will be on board.2. Not expected anytime soon: The roll out of Google high speed internet in Kansas City did not happen overnight. It took a lot of time. Google will announce a calendar that shows which neighborhoods will get Google internet speed and connectivity and when it would get it. When it comes to the rest of the world, there is no certainty as to when the world will have access.

Some people will love it, while others might not. But the truth is that anybody would be happier giving money to Google, a company who knows technology and provides what users of technology want and expect, as compared to overpriced small town ISP and cable providers who have poor customer service. Google internet connection is destined to go far. All we can do is sit and wait for our turn to use the Google high speed internet connection where we would transfer data over the Internet faster than we can write data to a thumb drive. Good thing there is no limit on the data downloads with Google Fiber!